What is so difficult about greeting a customer as they walk through door? Is it really that much of an inconvenience? I hate to write things like this and act like I am all high-and-mighty just because I have this golf blog, but sometimes it just irritates me to no end. But then again, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with any of this since it’s common at this place.
So today I went to Caruso Golf Center to work on my short game. Caruso Golf Center is less than 5 minutes from my house and has a decent area to chip and putt. It’s really the only driving range within 30 minutes of my house that has a decent place to practice unless I choose to go to an actual golf course. My plan was to chip for 30 minutes and then go through my practice putting drills routine I have been trying over the last few weeks. After putting and chipping, I was going to go buy a bucket of balls and hit 100 short iron shots. As I walked in the door of Caruso Golf Center, the guy behind the counter was on the phone but quickly got off when I walked up to the counter. But when he got off the phone he didn’t even acknowledge me as I stood there. In fact he stood at the register and looked to his right where the Texas A&M game was on TV. By this time I was already saying to myself, “How typical of this place…” It’s pretty normal to get treated like this at Caruso Golf Center. I kindly asked for a medium bucket of balls and handed the guy my credit card. While he swiped my credit card and continued to watch the football game, the only thing he said to me was “Do you need a receipt?” I just said “NO.”
As my credit card receipt printed, he continued to watch the football game. He looked away from the TV only to set the receipt on the counter along with a pen. I signed it and slid it back to him. He didn’t move but did continue to watch the football game. The setup at Caruso Golf Center has the buckets of balls sitting off behind the counter on the ground as you walk out the back door. So I started over towards the buckets of balls on the ground and this guy still didn’t say a word to me. There were only about 10 buckets on the ground and when I got over to them I asked, “Is this the medium?” His response, “Yeah.” So I picked up my bucket of balls and walked out without this guy saying another word to me. He didn’t even manage to work in a “thank you” or a “hit ’em straight” or anything along those lines.
Look, I am not asking for him to spark a conversation about my life and try to be my best friend. But is it really that difficult to say more than six words to me in the 3 minutes I was in the place. Especially a “hello” or “thank you” during the visit. But like I said earlier, it’s normal from this place. I don’t know why I continue to go back and spend money at Caruso Golf Center. In the 4 years I have lived in the area, I have spent quite a bit of money at that place. I used to pay for their monthly range membership for about a year until they raised it to $85, which is absolutely ridiculous by-the-way. I also paid for a series of ten lessons last spring with one of their instructors. But after all this time I have spent their, I can honestly say I have encountered maybe two people who work there who have been friendly.
The lack of driving ranges in San Antonio is actually sad in my opinion. I wish their was a place which provides nice facilities and has friendly staff. Again, I don’t need someone who acts like they are my best friend, but if I treated the members at my place of work the way that guy treated me today, I would not have a job for very long.
Now, I am going to jump off my soap box and watch the rest of the Texas game.
Let me know what you think @Front9Back9 or leave a comment.
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